A trader believes a water leak that affected the supply to customers and businesses in Keswick last week was responsible for a flooding incident that caused severe damage to his shop.
Roger Scoon, who runs Southey Interiors on Southey Street, said the water from the leak on Penrith Road was not the cause of his shop being flooded, but the back up of pressure burst open a tap in the shop’s first floor kitchen causing water to cascade through the ceiling. He said that he is awaiting discussions with loss adjusters to determine the costs of repair which he expects will be several thousand pounds.
“A friend was passing the shop on Friday evening (May 19) and saw that water was coming down the window and contacted me,” said Mr Scoon. “If it had not been noticed it could have been Monday morning before we knew about it.”
The water came through the ceiling and damaged computers on a downstairs desk and means the wooden flooring may also have to come up.
“We have been refurbishing the shop and were due to finish the work this weekend and now this has happened,” said Mr Scoon, who in November 2020 was running his business from a shop in Packhorse Court which suffered a flooded showroom because of a burst underground pipe.
“Fortunately the area where we were doing the refurbishment has not been affected. But we have spent six months trying to get this all done and this is a bit of a kick in the teeth.”
He added: “We are open for business with ground floor and first floor show areas, stock the latest Farrow & Ball paint and able to take orders as usual. However, our computers are damaged and we urge people to call in or phone rather than email at this time.”
Another of the businesses affected was the town’s Alhambra Cinema, which was forced to close on Friday night as the toilets were “unusable”. A decision was made to cancel the 5.30pm and 8pm films in each of the screens. Staff at the cinema were able to contact those who had made bookings and some of those who had reservations to see the film Eight Mountains were able to come again on Saturday night.
Some cafes and eateries were also forced to close because of the lack of water.
A spokesperson for United Utilities said: “We were made aware of a small number of customers without water in Keswick late afternoon.
“Our teams attended and identified a leak. To ensure customers had supplies again we quickly carried out a re-zone to bring in water from other parts of the network. The repair on the pipe was then completed overnight.”
